Energy retailers disconnecting 500 Victorian households per week due to unpaid bills
New figures show fewer Victorians are having their electricity and gas cut off because of unpaid bills, thanks to compassionate new measures introduced by energy retailers.
VIC News
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The number of Victorian households disconnected for unpaid energy bills has halved since the advent of new rules designed to help customers struggling with costs.
An Essential Services Commission report reveals electricity and gas customers are being cut off at a rate of more than 500 a week.
But the 13,723 disconnections from January to June were down 53 per cent compared with the same time last year.
ESC energy director Sarah McDowell said: “The fall has coincided with the introduction of new rules aimed at ensuring customers get meaningful help to avoid falling into a debt-disconnection cycle”.
Under a payment difficulty framework introduced on January 1, people struggling with energy bills are entitled to retailer help including flexible payment arrangements, realistic debt repayment plans, and information on how to lower costs.
Figures for January to June show 9315 residential disconnections for unpaid electricity, and 4408 for gas.
For the entire financial year 36,265 households were cut off — down 35 per cent on the previous year.
Over the year, retailers also compensated 484 “wrongfully disconnected” customers almost $800,000 in total — an average $1647 each.
The ESC recently decided that a wrongfully disconnected Dodo Power & Gas customer was entitled to $63,060 compensation, the report reveals. She was without gas supply for 18 weeks.
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Last month, the Herald Sun reported that hundreds of Momentum Energy smart meter customers were set to share more than half a million dollars in compensation after the regulator found the company failed to tell them they could be disconnected remotely.
The new energy rules aim to ensure disconnections are only ever a “last resort”.
“We note that the reduction in disconnections has continued to occur across most retailers regardless of size,” the ESC’s latest Victorian Energy Market Update states.
“We will continue to monitor retailer performance … and the support they provide to customers.”